Your Biggest Mistake
by Medlie Skyth
Summary: It's, like, part two and stuff! So you should totally read it, cause it'll be full of supertastical fun! Second in series of 'I Would Do Anything for You' *Myka/HG* *Claudia/OC*
1. Capturing the Enemy

Your Biggest Mistake

*Claudia's POV*

The smoky haze created a deep smog made it hard to see. It was more the vile sent which made my eyes water then the smoke's physical thickness clouding my view as I stagger across the abandoned garage searching for the very thing that caused my misery.

Pushing my strengths and endurance to the limit, testing my wits and speed... missions like these were an average day's work to agents like me.

Agent, as in government agent. Me and my colleges work for a special division that deal with strange artifacts that grant horrific powers; some holders can't control or understand or realize what's going on at all, and some artifacts work their own terrifying witchcraft. This one had a master, however. One who we've been tracking for some time now, but never had luck catching. It's very unusual for warehouse agents like us to go after a specific person, but no one else in this world has a better understanding- wait... no team is better fit for cases like these then ours. The fact that we're experts on the types of weapons that this guy's using is just an added bonus.

Speaking of my team... where are they? There's no way they would just leave me here on my own. God, I hope nothing's happened to them. I gotta think... we all came in together and split up in different directions. It doesn't help that I can't tell which room I just came out of, or the fact that I'm starting to get a little dizzy.

"God damn fire wood." I mutter as I slowly drop to the floor.

I can't give up now. I'll crawl to the fireplace if I have to. I'm the only one who has any naturalizing goo left; my team is counting on me! But as I feel the limbs in my body go numb, and the black haze overtakes the room completely, turning everything around me pitch-black...

Chapter 1: Capturing the Enemy

"Claudia!" Myka's concerned voice echoes once I snap awake.

Immediately I shoot up from my position and scan my surroundings.

I sigh in relief... I was back in the warehouse.

"Did you-"

Before I'm able to finish my sentence, Myka holds up the bag with a long, log-shaped solid inside and smiles. "You know it."

"What about...?" I concern. It was great we got the artifact, but it doesn't count for much if we didn't catch the guy.

"Pete and Stevie were still on his trail last time I heard from them." Myka fills in.

The doors open, and Lena hurries in. "Not anymore. Artie called, they lost him somewhere in the northern region of Denmark."

Immediately I push myself off the counter and tumble towards the computer. "Maybe he's still in the area! If I could just find any sort of- of credit use or maybe he put in his information for airline tickets! I could track his recent transaction and-"

"Claude! Okay, Claudia? Calm down." Myka sighs. "I'm sure the guys are doing all they can to find him."

I didn't listen. This guy has gotten away with enough, and if we don't catch him now, when we're already so close...

I viciously pound on the computer, opening up tracker programs and running through the most recent reports, scanning over each name, every tiny detail, to find even the smallest trace of Wayne. The numbers and colors flashing by so quickly soon became too much for me, and I start to feel dizzy.

"It's too late." Lena informs quietly, placing her hand on my shoulder as I drop my head into my arms.

There has to be something we can do...

"Steve says they last saw him hop on a tram mid-downtown. They made it to the next station before the tram arrived..."

I perk up, and me and Myka stare at her with hope.

"...but when it reached the destination, he was nowhere to be seen." Lena finishes.

"Well, what? He just disappeared?" Myka questions, and then starts scrolling up and down the computer screen. "What did the passengers have to say?"

"That the person they'd described had never boarded that tram." She answers. "Claudia, you might be awake but you still need to rest."

"No!" I protest, and the two jump. "We're so close! He can't be that far from them, I'm sure if I just monitor the incoming data-"

"Claudia!" Myka snaps.

I pause and look at her. Why wasn't she agreeing with me? Wayne causes more and more trouble by the day, his tactics becoming more deadly each time. We're the only ones who can stop him... doesn't she know we need to do everything in our power to protect the world from this monster?

Her eyelids drift close, and she draws a sigh. "I know... it's hard to accept, but look at it this way. We have the artifact, and that's one less deadly weapon that's no longer in his possession."

"What?" I glare. "Are you suggesting we should just grab the artifact and give up?"

"No, I just-"

"Do you wanna just wait for the world to implode on itself? Is that it?" I screech in rage. How dare she, or _anyone_ treat this so lightly!

"Will you just relax for a second!" Myka commands. "I know how bad this guy is, okay? Trust me! But we're not going to get anything done if everyone's stressing out over it!"

"She's right." Lena comments.

I sat quietly now. Maybe I have been on-edge the past couple days. ...I need sleep.

With that I exit the room, the two watching me mope all the way to the door before I reach the corridor and drag myself to my car. If there's nothing I can do, then the next best thing is to rest for when I am needed.

I run into Pete and Steve on my way out, who were both arguing over something stupid, I'm sure.

"I told you, one of us should have got on board with him!" Steve glares.

"Well who put you in charge? I told you, it makes more sense that-"

"That we go unnoticed by the public to avoid panic- yeah, and how did that plan go?" Steve returns, clearly hearing this before.

I don't think either of them noticed me pass them, and they continued to fight as they enter the warehouse.

I figure if I can get back to the bed-and-breakfast before the others I can get at least a couple minutes of quiet time. Living with these freaks, then having to go work with them all day... we get tired of each other pretty quick. As I pull in, I notice Fredrick's dark vehicle parked in the driveway. I wasn't too worried about it; Fredrick never really bothered anyone about trivial things.

"Good evening, Miss Donovan." Helena greets the moment I walk in.

Greeeeeat. "I thought you weren't supposed to be back for another week." I groan.

"...nice to see you too." She comments aside.

It's nothing against her. She's efficient with her work, and has saved the team more than a couple times from danger. That being said, she's also been the cause of it a few times. I guess I'm just not in the mood to talk right now, and was looking forward to having time to myself.

She follows me all the way into the kitchen, where I begin to make myself a quick meal.

"You seem in a cheery mood today love." She notes sarcastically.

"Yeah. Never better." I shrug.

"Ah, Wayne giving you grief?" She guesses.

I stare at her with a 'mind your own business' look. She ignores me and continues to smile while pouring a cup of tea, which was steaming from the stove-top next to me.

It was awkward standing and waiting for my easy-mac to finish heating. Helena kept making little comments, to which I would respond with one-word answers or a nod. Eventually she'd picked up that I really didn't want to talk right now, and left the room.

"Finally..." I sigh to myself.

"That bad?"

I spin around to the voice behind me, half scared to death. Then I noticed it was, of course, Mrs. Fredrick.

She stood upright and still, looking at me and awaiting a response.

"God..." I breathe, still a little shaky. "Where the hell did you...?" I look around, searching for a secret door or portal or anything she may have came out of.

"I assume agent Latimere and Jinx lost our criminal?" She infers.

"Umm..." I stutter.

She raises her hand, ordering me to stop talking. "No need. I have another assignment for you, in the mean time."

Another assignment?

"Yes." She nods, as if she could read my mind. "While the capture of Wayne is important, it's also important that we keep minor areas under control by not letting artifacts run amuck as they please."

"No offence, but my team needs me." I reason before she goes into any further detail. "I mean, if I'm gone, who else is going to track Wayne's information?"

"The program which you created to do such a thing, if ever the need arise, Donovan." She replies. "You're immediate skills are better use to the many citizens we are unfamiliar with. People in society like Wayne who think its okay to use artifacts for their own personal gain."

Damn me and my amazing computer skills...

"You and agent Wells will be investigating a theatre prop in southern Michigan." Fredrick orders, handing me the file she'd been holding on to. "The details are listed inside. Leave as soon as you're ready."

Aw, man...

"Oh, come now, Claudia. This'll give the two of us a little bonding time, eh?" Helena smirks from the doorway, sipping her tea, also holding a folder.

Sure enough, when I turned around to see the annoying brit, Mrs. Fredrick disappeared. How the heck does she do that?

It doesn't matter, really. Right now I have a mission with H.G. Wells, and I'm not looking forward to it.

The drive to Michigan was pretty far. We stopped when it started getting dark and got a room at a local econo-lodge in Illinois. Maybe I'd finally get some rest...

No such luck.

"So the kid has become an instant success overnight?" Helena confirms for the millionth time.

"UHHHHG!" I moan in agony.

I can tell she wanted to try to get to the root of this issue here and now, but I needed to sleep. We tried talking through some of the possibilities. We did have a couple of points written down, but we won't know if they're of use until we actually get there.

"What? I was just gonna say for a boy from Michigan to attract so much attention regarding live theatre, it seems pretty off that-"

"H.G., please. I know, something, is off. But right now is not the time!" I interrupt.

With one last check of the musty room, I decide I don't care if there's rats crawling through the walls and turn out the lights.

"We have an entire car-trip tomorrow to talk about it. Just... go to bed." I suggest, then roll over and shut my eyes.

I could hear her begin to say something, but a minute later I was out. We'll... we'll talk about it in the morning...


	2. Theatre

Chapter 2: Theatre

It's highly unusual for a community college to receive so much attention for a young male actor who, according to his teacher, sucked. Granted, the teacher may be trying to take credit for the boy's instant success. Something tells me it's the work of an artifact, however, and so do the regents. No teacher, no matter how great he claims to be, can teach a student enough to make him this noticeable over the course of 24 hours. It's possible the teacher is purposely using an artifact to boost his play AND his reputation, but odds are it's one of their on-stage props. Anything historic, like Greek or Roman masks, or things used on stage before, probably have qualities that are making this kid a star. By the time we reached the school, the parking lots were packed and there was no open space for a couple blocks.

"How do they fit all these people in one theatre?" I scoff.

Helena continued to circle, waiting for a place to open. "...Hm. That's peculiar..." She notes.

I notice her staring at the license plates. That IS wired... people from all over the country are coming to see this play. Nebraska, Florida, even a white mini-van from Texas drove up to see a performance that last week would have costs eight bucks general admission.

"Since when do so many people even care about theatre anyway these days?" I comment to myself.

Finally we find a police parking space in the back of the building. We flash security our badges, and they allow us entry. From there, it's just a matter of finding a place to actually watch.

"You know..." HG begins as we push through the crowd. "Way back when, those front-row seats used to be the one-cent entry where the groundings would-"

"I'm sorry, is this relevant to the mission?"

She says nothing.

Once we make it in the doors, we hear voices from on stage. No one was about to let us through, even when we tell them we're secret service, so Helen pulls out some sort of old gaudy necklace and tells me to cover my ears and look away. Who knows what she did, but everyone cleared a path and we walked through with ease to the theatre hall.

It was crowded. I wish I knew what trick she used to get those people to move. There was no sitting down at all, and some people climbed on the back of the chairs to see the stage. This was an outrage!

According to our sources, the blonde who was on stage now is considered famous. That being said our source was you tube, and random videos of this guy doing scenes through the heads of others, trying to watch and record as well. All the video's we'd seen were taken off today, however, due to copy-write laws.

"Alas, poor Yorik. I knew him once." The male voice echoes off the theatre walls. "Horatio was a fine friend."

"Wait, that's not how it went." Helena criticizes.

"What, did you see this the first time it came on Broadway of something?" I mock.

"Nooo," She rolls her eyes. "But I do know a thing or two about Shakespeare, and this monologue doesn't quite go the way he's playing it."

"So?" I wince, "Some actors skip up on lines some times. What's the big deal if he missed a word or two?"

"The deal is, he's not just 'some actor', he's supposedly the most amazing thing to hit the stage since ever." Helena reasons.

It was extremely hard to see from where we were, but I could tell just by the boy's voice that he was nervous and under-pressure. Now that I think about it...

Not that many people in the audience seemed to be enjoying his performance either.

After the show was over, many angry patrons charge to the box office, demanding their money back. We make our way to the green room back stage to have a talk with the distraught teen.

"Talent only." The guard warns.

If that's the case, then why is our blond boy-wonder in there?

Helena claims us as secret service, and the confused guard lets us through, not sure why government agents need accesses to such a place.

"Erick?" I call. The cast wasn't all that big, but the room was cluttered with scripts and bags and make-up sponges and costumes... yeah it was a mess.

"Just left." One of the girls answers. I believe she played Ophelia.

"Did he say where he was going?" Helena adds.

"Well, no, but-" The female responds in shy tone.

"Just, don't worry about it." I sigh. Helena was already on her way out, so I follow her.

We reached the building's exit, and a blast of cold hits us as the doors swing open.

"Hey!" I pant, trying to catch up still. "Don't you think we could have asked the girl what his car looks like or something?"

"No need." She smirks, and then directs my attention to a lone boy sitting in the middle of the campus courtyard.

Erick, no doubt.

We work our way down the stairs quietly and approach the boy with caution. He didn't look like he could hurt anyone, but when dealing with artifacts, you can't be sure of anything.

"...Erick?" HG calls, then takes a seat on the stone bench next to him.

"Go away..." He mutters before standing up and walking to a different spot.

Helena pulls out her teseler once he's turned, but I pull her arm down and instead walk towards the boy.

"I thought your performance was great." I confide.

He looks at me, then at Helena, then back at me. "...so?"

"So you don't need to listen to what everyone else thinks." I assure him. "You gave it your best, and anyone who says otherwise doesn't matter, because they're not being any help to you or your acting."

For a moment the boy remained still. He opens his mouth like he's about to speak, but nothing came out.

HG chimes in then. "...do you think, you gave it your best, Erick?" She asks.

A pause. "It doesn't matter." He spoke, his eyes fixed to the ground. "If Alyssa thinks I'm a bad actor, then there's no point in doing all this theatre stuff anyway."

"...look, about this, Alyssa girl, ...you can't, be someone you're not to impress someone else. It's gonna turn out bad in the long run!" I warn.

Still silence. He seemed a little uncomfortable as he shifted his feet from side to side. "...what do you guys want? A freakin' autograph? I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone, so just tell me what it is you want and get out of here!"

This poor boy is a victim of an artifact. Clearly he had no understanding of how he became so successful, and how he lost it all. A couple of questions, and we can be on our way.

"We just wanted to ask you a few questions about your overnight success." Helena informs. "If that's alright with you...?"

"Fine." He huffs. "What about it?"

She pulls out a notepad and pen. "Alright Erick. Now, have you come in contact with any strange-"

"Whoa, are you guys like, news reporters or something? I don't want to show up in any papers or anything." He says, holding his hand up.

"...Well, uh..." What should I do? If he thinks we're writing for a paper or something he may not worry so much about the legal stuff. On the other hand, if he knows he could get in trouble, he may tell us the truth. How about... "Yeah. We work for channel five"

"I've never seen you on channel five." He accuses.

"We're on the channel five in Denmark!" Helena contradicts.

He raises an eyebrow. "The channels are different in different states?"

"She means, channel five, on the... radio! Yeah." I stutter. "Um, yep. It's, like, the fifth station in.

He looks at us suspiciously. "Whatever. I might not be this famous teen theatre star everyone seems to think I am, but I know bad acting when I see it."

That plan failed.

"Look kid, we're on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know." Helena threatens. "So if you could just answer our questions then we can all get out of here as quickly as poss-"

He hops up on the stone railing. "Forget it. I don't need to waste my time talking to nobodies. I'm getting out of here."

Just before he starts to speed off, Helena looks to me for permission. I nod, and she fires her teseler at Erick. It only zapped him, but unfortunately the shock caused him to lose his balance. He fell hard to the ground and was knocked unconscious.


	3. Sielenced

CH 3: Sielenced

"Oh, shit! Uh... is he okay?" I freak. "Way to go, H.G.!

"Well you told me to!"

In the middle of the two of us freaking the fuck out, neither of us noticed the figure standing in the shadows by one of the building's entrances.

We heard slow, taunt-like clapping bouncing off the stone walls from the direction, and at first I assume the worst.

"Wayne? Is that you? Show yourself!" I command.

A young teen female steps out. She had a devilish smile on her face, and was still in her Ophelia costume. It was a relief… at least Wayne isn't caught up in this disaster play.

"Great job, guys. Veeery graceful." The girl mocks in a childish tone.

"Hello, miss. You wouldn't happen to be a friend of Erick, now, would you?" Helena asks, examining the girl.

"Unbelievable." The female squints. "Neither of you recognize me. Though I wouldn't expect you to, but, really Claudia?"

I was at a loss. Never before had I so much as spoke to this kid and she already knows my name.

Before I can go any further into thought, she pulls off her wig and wipes off some of the makeup on her eyes, and-

"Sie!"

Without missing a beat I run up to her and embrace her in my arms, lifting her off her feet and swinging her around dramatically before putting her down.

"Well, what are the odds of that..." HG smirks. I don't know if she was in on it, or we were both thinking the same thing; Fredrick made this happen.

She laughs and smiles, then reaches into her bag. "Here." Sie pulls a human skull from her purse and hands it to HG.

"This is what you wanted, right?" She asks, then takes a step back.

It was an actual human skull... rotting and smelly... Helena drops it in a naturalizing bag, and sure enough it deactivates the thing.

"Whoa!" She giggles. "That's fun! I miss that!"

Yep, that's our Sie, alright. Laughing about a dead human skull.

"Do you mind if we ask you a couple of questions?" Helena asks, trying to stick to the mission.

"Sure." She nods. "But don't give me any of the channel five crap."

We sit down. Erick was still out cold, and he lay forgotten against the stone railing on the other side. Helena again took out her notes and writing utensil, and began asking questions.

"Okay, Sie." Helen starts. "What do you know about the skull? For example... where it came from, how it's activated, who-"

"All I know is Erick found it in the prop storage up stairs, and suddenly he's actually good at acting. I'm no expert, but even with my minor experience at the warehouse I figured it must be an artifact."

HG was taking some notes, and I take advantage of the gap in our interview to catch up with my friend. "So how's life?"

She shrugs. "Lonely. I miss you guys, lots."

"So why was the performance tonight so bad, then?" HG asks, getting back to the base of our mission,

Sie seems lost for a second, but remembers that she's in the middle of an artifact report. "Oh, umm... I replaced the artifact with a fake skull. I didn't need him stealing all my spotlight."

"Have any of your cast mates come in contact with the artifact?"

"Nope. Just me and Erick."

"Not even your director?"

"Nope." Sie confirms.

"I see..."

There's silence for a moment. I don't know if HG was giving me a chance to speak, but I don't even know what I'd say. I had a million questions for her, and none pertaining to the artifact. I couldn't say anything, though.

Sie finally broke the silence. "My last acting teacher here had a thing for original stage materials." She explains. "She said it brought her and her actors luck. 'till it killed her, that is..."

"There's more, then?" Helena confirms.

"Yeah, there's more. Maybe Claudia and I can go bag them? You know, like, for old times' sake?"

"I can always meet you back at the car." I throw in, eager to get spend some alone time with Sie.

She led me to the top of the theatre, and then took me to one of the several prop rooms off the cat-walk. I miss her crazy antics... walking across the high ledges with ease and handling a human skull, without a care in the world! She's wired, but in a good way, which I absolutely adore. Not to mention in the courtyard when she laughed at the 'bright shiny light', and when she became instantly distracted and over-joyed about a couple stage lights that were turned on while we walked. The minute we'd left the catwalk area, though, she returned to her regular, bipolar self.

A lot of items in the attic were artifacts. It's like a gold mine! We worked side by side, just like before, not saying a thing to one another.

Sie was tossing around a jar of random liquid.

"You really shouldn't be handling these types of things without gloves, you know."

"Purple's not really my color. Besides... I haven't seen you in over a year, and you pick now to start nagging at me?"

Ouch. "I just don't want you to get hurt." I say. "You said one of these objects caused the death of your teacher."

I think she realized she'd hurt my feelings, and decided it better to just work quietly.

It took a while, but we'd made it through every room, and neutralized every artifact in this place. There was still something wrong, though. Something wasn't right, and there was a tense feeling in the air. Sie looked almost as if there was something she'd wanted to tell me, but couldn't quite find the right words.

"Hey, I gotta get back to work, but is there, um..."

"Take me out to dinner." She states spontaneously.

I thought she was kidding, but the child had a serious look on her face.

"I… can't." I say. "Not with this many artifacts just sitting in the car. ...I'm sorry."

She shakes her head. "No, forget it."

I couldn't even respond; she was already on her way down the sidewalk, back to her school. I think to chase after her, but HG had approached me and reminded me we needed to go.

"Well she's turned into quite the charming young adult, wouldn't you say?" HG comments as we climb back in her car.

I return back to reality. "Yeah."

Helena starts the car.

"Well, we should really get back to the warehouse with these..." She points out, more trying to break the awkward silence then make conversation in general.

I was supposed to be on a mission with Myka tomorrow, but I just couldn't get in any sleep. My thoughts were preoccupied with meaningless thoughts that were no use to me anymore. It was almost five in the morning; I give up on sleeping and head to the warehouse early.

There were several little nooks like these in the warehouse. Rooms that used to be active way back when... there's so many, no one would look in every single one. So basically, I'm pretty secluded.

...almost no one would look in every single room. No one besides Stevie. What the hell is he doing up so early?

"Knock knock!" He calls, then taps on the side of the door. "You know what, I'm comin in, like it or not."

He strolls in and has a seat next to me.

"How'd you...?" I trail. He seemed to understand, though.

"Just following the music." He casually states, plucking a string on my guitar. "What's wrong? You seem tense lately."

"That obvious?" I smirk sarcastically.

He laughs, and then takes the guitar from my hands. He starts plucking the strings, dabbling around the fret until giving up. "What was that I heard on my way in? Maroon 5?"

"No!" I lie. "They can't rock for shit."

He sets the instrument against a desk. "Tell me what's bugging you."

I roll my eyes. "Nothin."

"Don't even try lying to me Claudia." He warns.

"Oh, you and your friggin lie detecting... thingy!" I tease, hoping to change the subject.

"Seriously." He says intently. "Is this about your run in with Sie?"

I don't need him lecturing me, saying her name a hundred times, and making me feel even worse. I've been miserable enough today. There was no getting rid of him, though.

"Sie, before I left, asked me to dinner."

He smiles hugely. "Oh, I see. So? She likes you!" He smirks, and nudges me on the arm. "What's wrong with that? Huh? Sie got a little crush on-"

"It's not that, it's... I told her I had to go back to work, and she just... took off. Without saying goodbye or anything."

Steve looks at me concerned. "Well, yeah. I bet she felt rejected."

"I don't need this!" I stress, then get up.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on."

Stevie caught me by the wrist and pulls me back. "You gotta fix this. If you don't fix this now, then you're gonna spend all of next week complaining about your silly little mistake, and none of us need that."

"So how do I fix it, then?" I sigh, giving into his persistence.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this. We finally get back, and now I have to drive all the way to Michigan, again. ...I guess it's worth it, though.

I found all her information on a poorly guarded roster on the main computer. All there's left to do now was find the right dorm, and...

"Am I in trouble?" She says. I had just entered the room, and for a moment just stood there, saying nothing.

"Huh? No, Sie. I... was thinking about what you said, and-"

"I thought you had to go back to the warehouse." She remembers, cutting me off mid-sentence.

"I did. And, now I'm here."

"...right. You drove all the way here to take me to dinner." 

"Yep."

*Myka's POV*

"Damn it, where the hell is she!" I question, for the millionth time.

It says right on the schedule that Claudia is accompanying me on this mission, but who knows where she is!

"Will you just relax." Helena chuckles. "I'm sure she's just running a couple minutes late my dear."

"Don't tell me to relax!" I snap. "We had to leave as of three minutes ago and you expect me to just _relax_?"

She continues to snicker from the corner, her arms crossed as she tries not to act to amused.

I drop into Arties chair, and sit back. "I guess I have been a little uptight as of late."

Helena then rises from her spot and walks behind me. She begins to massage my shoulders, and I sigh in delight.

"Feeling better?"

I crack my neck to one side. "Hmm… I might."

"Are you just saying that because you don't want me to stop?" She asks, already knowing the answer.

The doors to the office open, and Artie enters. Helena quickly lets go of me, in reaction to the last time she and I were caught being intimate at work.

"Why haven't you left yet?" He was paused in the doorway.

"I was waiting for-"

"Claudia, right, have either of you ladies, SEEN, Claudia, recently?"

I look to Helena, who shakes her head.

"She wasn't at breakfast." I add in. "Neither was Steve, now that I think about it."

"I saw Steve this morning." Helena explains. "He left some time before six."

Artie stomps to his desk, and I quickly get up from where I was seated as if a bull was charging at me. He sits down and opens the tracking program on our Farnsworth's.

"I could care less where agent Jinx is; I need to know where that troublesome teenager is!"

A green circle pops up, and shows she's located east of us.

"That girl… it's clearly working… why hasn't she answered…? I wish she would just think some times… she just gets up and goes… think to tell someone?" Was what I picked up from Arties mumbling from his desk. Helena says that I'm stressed?

"She's a bright young adult. I'm certain she can handle herself." Helena reasons.

He slams his hands on his desk. "Don't tell me you forgot to bring her home yesterday!"

"Well if I had then it certainly wouldn't have been an 'accident' as you've implied."

"Helena!" I scold at her rude comment towards Claudia. She rolls her eyes at me.

"Go get her." Artie demands. "NOW!"

"If I must." She responds, starting out the door.

I was now awkwardly standing in the center of the room, watching Artie stress out over our missing crew member.

"Maybe I should accompany her to-"

"Agent Bering I can't have any more delays. I'll have to assign Pete to the mission or join you myself; either way it looks like I'll have to unsuspended him." His head was dropped into his hand.

I really hope Claudia just dropped her Farnsworth while she was there yesterday, and was about to walk in the door and save us all. No such luck, though. Besides, Claudia dropping her Farnsworth? It's more likely Sie returns then that ever happening.

"Just send Pete." I huff. "Could you fill him in, though?"

"You'll have plenty of time to discuss the mission on the trip."

Could things possibly get any worse? I sling my bag over my shoulder and sulk toward the exit.


	4. It's desieded

CH 4: Then it's De-sie-ded

*Claudia's POV*

"Can I get more mountain dew?"

This is probably the fifth time Sie's asked the waitress for a refill. That girl was wired, and I grit my teeth trying not to complain about it.

"Claudia can I get desert too?" She begins to bounce in her seat.

Haven't you had enough sugar for one night? "Of course you can Sie!"

I took her to a Greek restaurant near her school; apparently her cast mates had their cast party here. She said she was too upset to join them, and skipped it.

After talking with her tonight, I feel so bad for turning her down. I can hardly believe she knew I liked her like that! Or…

"Can I ask you something Sie?"

"You just did." The hyper girl giggles.

I roll my eyes and laugh with her. "No, seriously, there's something I need to know."

"Fish and a half." She responds without even knowing my question.

I look at her with a confused expression.

"Two plus two. That makes fish and a half." The girl replies in a witty tone. "Except on Wednesdays."

"Your ridicules!"

"The answer to that one is yes; I most certainly am ridicules."

Now she's just trying to avoid my question.

"Sie, why did you ask me out last night?"

Just as I though, she didn't respond. She continued to sip her drink, pretending not to have heard me.

I was sitting across from her at the table before I decided to change spots and shuffle in next to her. It was a booth table, so she was trapped in now.

"Hi!" She waves as I climb in next to her.

"Hi." I say, grinning hugely. "Why did you ask me out?" I demand rather than just ask her.

"Sheesh, why you gotta be, like, persistent and stuff? I'm here, right?"

"Who told you?"

"More persistance!" The child… um, I mean young adult, points out. "Told me what?"

"That I-" I hesitate briefly. "That I like you." I blurt.

She starts to giggle. "You told me!"

I'm so sick and tired of this game.

"Can you please be serious for one second?" I press, doing everything in my power to convey to her I'm not kidding around. "Please. I have to know… why did you ask me on a date?"

"Did you ever think that maybe I just like you?"

I was waiting for her to start laughing again, but she kept her confidence.

"So does this mean we're… like, dating now?" I ask, unaware of how nervous I'd become until now.

I felt my face burning up, and couldn't look her in the eyes. My head was lowered, and I felt my pulse speed up.

"One condition."

I look at her now. Oh my god, I can't live out here with her. My team needs me, I can't just up and leave because Sie-

"I get to be the boyfriend!"

How silly of me. As if she was _actually_ being serious for once!

"No Sie, you get to be the girlfriend. …and no, that doesn't mean I'm being the boyfriend either."

"Ummm, okay deal!" She smiles. "Claudia's my girlfriend!"

"Wait, slow down! You just jumped from 'dating' to a relationship." I was feeling just a _tad_ dizzy. "Actually, we haven't even finished our first date yet."

"Claudia…" The girl complains.

Knowing her, she could start crying any second. It's best I not upset her.

"Okay okay! I'm… I'm your girlfriend."

She stopped, then looks down.

"No, never mind. I don't want you to be my girlfriend because you have to."

"Sie, sweetie, I want to be your girlfriend." I say, grabbing her hands. "You have no idea how much I want to be with you."

Within a mere second the sulking disappears from her face, and just as fast is replaced with a devious smile. "Okay! If you wanna be with me so bad, then, like, you gotta win me over and stuff."

Why? Why do I have to fall for the girl who never makes any sense? If I argue this any further, I'll wined up in more of a mess then I'm already in. Had I decided to just shut my mouth sooner… I guess better late than never.

"Alright Sie. I'll 'win you over'."

She smiles hugely.

"Oh, yay! This is so super romantic!"

It's days like these I wish I were straight.

*Myka's POV*

I was starting to get worried. I've been calling HG for the past hour and she hasn't answered. Too bad Claud can't install a voicemail in these. Artie would probably kill her if she tried messing with the Farnsworth's again, unfortunately.

"Will you relax?"

Pete was driving now, since he told me I was too stressed to do it myself. It can't really be THAT bad, can it?

"I'm just worried about her." I sigh.

"HG is a grown women." He begins, as if telling this to a child. "She can take care of herself." He continues to list. "And she doesn't need you bothering her every five minutes."

I had an awful feeling in my gut though. Claudia went missing, and we haven't heard from her either. No one could reach her, no one could reach HG… "Why the hell didn't he send me with her?"

He slams on the breaks.

"Myka; SHE, IS, FINE. I promise you nothing bad has happened to her, and nothing will."

"How can you be so sure- why are we stopped?"

He shakes his head.

"…how can you be so sure? I mean, if not me then at least he could've gone with her." I continue. "Or Steve. Could you please just take us home?"

"Nope." He responds.

I look to him for an explanation.

"Why?" I was getting impatient.

"Because I'm not driving with you acting like this." He states, then starts into a u-turn. "We're gonna go find them."

"Pete-"

"Nope." He says, almost simultaneously.

"Pete Artie said that we-"

"Lalalalalala I can't hear you lalalala"

I angrily clench my fists. "YOU"RE SUCH A CHILD!"

"Still can't hear you!" He sings, making wired faces.

Well. It looks like, we are going to Michigan. And there's nothing I can do about it. So Artie can't get mad at me. …actually I really just want to see Helena. I hope to god she isn't in any danger.

*Claudia's POV*

Artie's probably mad as hell, and Sie may have just become an even bigger problem than before, but I still don't regret coming here. It was worth it, Sie told me she likes me! I almost feel like I should have known that. It seemed so obvious, but she might not have realized what she was saying at the time.

I guess it wasn't until she actually said I was her girlfriend for me to realize she really did like me. I mean, asking me to take her to dinner? She could have just been asking me to give her a ride to the cast party. And saying she 'likes' me might mean something completely different to her than it does me.

I throw the car in park. "So I'll see you later kiddo."

"Claudia, I'm not a kid." The girl reminds me. "I'm, like… 18 years old. If you want to impress me you can't be treating me like I'm five."

"No offence, but you act like your five."

She shrugs. "Yeah, but it's not like I can help it."

She has a point.

"Why do I have to impress you or any of that anyway? You already told me you like me back."

She unlocks her door and hops out, then faces me again. "I do like you Claudia. I also like attention, and feeling like I mean something to someone."

Aw. She's so disturbingly honest with herself.

"So like, prove to me I mean something to you and stuff."

She shuts the door and waves to me before going up to her dorm.

I can't believe she just said that. Prove to her she means something to me? What does she think I drove all the way here for?

My Farnsworth goes off for the millionth time tonight. Damn it, I wish I could install a mute button!

"Myka?"

"You answered!"

Thank goodness it's only Myka! I'm not in the mood to deal with Artie yelling at me.

"I'm sorry about ignoring you guys earlier. I was kinda…"

"Just tell us HG is there with you." I hear, which must have been Pete.

"What? No, no she's not here."

Myka looks away, probably at Pete.

"Claud, she came to get you hours ago. You haven't seen her at all?"

I shake my head. "No, I haven't."

If I was concerned, Myka was probably terrified, and Pete afraid of having to put up with it. They said they were on their way here, but it sounded dangerous. If they haven't gotten a hold of HG, then where is she?


End file.
